Stefan Zweig’s work is enjoying a well-deserved renaissance, thanks in large part to the republication by Pushkin Press of his novel, Beware of Pity. Now Penguin are trying to get in on the act with his novella Chess, which has previously been translated under the inaccurate title The Royal Game (the German title is Schachnovelle). This new translation is published in their ‘Penguin Red’ series which also gave us Michael Hofman’s new translation of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, which later appeared as part of a larger collection. I hope that Penguin will do the same with Zweig.
Chess is an investigation of obsession. The world chess champion is travelling on a cruise liner bound for Buenos Aires and is challenged to a friendly game by one of the passengers. At the climax of one of their games, a stranger offers the challenger some advice, and this leads to him securing a draw. It emerges that the stranger is not a recognised chess player, but he seems to have thousands of games memorised. How can this be? The explanation is highly melodramatic but beautifully realised, as with all of Zweig’s output.
Chess is a classic of the novella form, and a wonderful example of the German-language fiction from the inter war- years, a period that produced a great deal of writing that I admire; it’s a period in the arts that I love above almost any other. Chess is brilliantly translated by Anthea Bell. Highly recommended.
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